


different

by ndnickerson



Category: Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Attraction, F/M, Flirting, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 16:39:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15295692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ndnickerson/pseuds/ndnickerson
Summary: Ned's working at the country club over the summer when he spies a familiar face - in a bad situation.





	different

"Smoke?"

The offer was obligatory; Ned's response was just as rote. He shook his head, folding his arms and leaning back against the side of the building. Gus shrugged, slipping the unlit cigarette between his lips before patting his pockets, looking for his lighter. The ritual was familiar. Ned made sure to keep out of the downstream, watching Gus's lashes flutter down as he exhaled the first drag.

"How's it going?"

It was Ned's turn to shrug. "I did some memorizing, but I can find almost anything I need on my phone," he pointed out. "You were right about compliments, though."

Gus smirked, lifting his cigarette again. "Works every time."

Ned had taken the second summer job because he'd wanted to buy something impressive for Belinda. That had been before Belinda had accepted a residency in New York for the summer, and had broken up with him almost immediately after. By then he had already started working at the River Heights Country Club, and he'd considered quitting—seeing the place made him feel faintly bitter now—but he'd stuck with it and returned tonight, this time working a wedding reception with a cash bar. The most complicated part of the evening had been finding acceptable substitutes when the older guests asked for liquors they didn't carry.

Paying the guests compliments was Gus's strategy. He only filled in when no one else was available, but he was also a big believer in having a full tip jar by the end of the night. Ned didn't mind that, either. Soon he'd need to get back in there, to navigate the fine line between pleasing buzzed guests and cutting off inebriated ones.

Ned was turned toward the door, about to go back inside while Gus finished his cigarette, when the employee door swung open and a couple stumbled out. The girl's face he couldn't quite see clearly, and a part of him wanted to avert his gaze anyway to give them some privacy, but the guy turned his face fully into the pool of illumination from the security light overhead, and—

Ned turned back toward Gus, his lips parted and his brow furrowed slightly. Gus's interest in the couple was overt, but Ned saw the older man's expression darken. He ground out the half-spent cigarette on the bricks behind him, his gaze fixed on the guy Ned had found somehow familiar, though he didn't think he'd ever actually seen him before.

"Stay here," Gus mumbled in Ned's direction, without looking at him. He was still staring at the man like he would disappear if Gus looked away. Absently he rubbed his palm across the curve of his belly, outlined by his untucked shirt. The security light made the gray in his close-cropped beard turn almost silver. "Lemme go get security."

"Where..."

"His photo's up in the breakroom. He was banned from here. Sneaking into the women's locker room, harassing girls. Before your time."

Ned's head whipped back to where he had last seen the couple, his heart beating harder. "I'll keep an eye on them," he promised quietly.

The guy—now Ned recognized the predator, now that Gus had jogged his memory—was guiding the girl to the deeper shadows on the far side of the dumpster. Ned's heart gave a sickening lurch as Gus headed back toward the door. He hoped, for the girl's sake, that security would arrive quickly.

Cautiously Ned approached the dumpster, keeping his steps light, listening for any sign that his presence had been noticed or that he was attacking the girl. He heard the man's voice, low, cajoling.

As he peered around the corner of the dumpster, he saw the girl's hands up on the man's shoulders, her face turned up. Then he saw a brief flash of movement, and the man was doubled over, groaning, clutching between his thighs.

"Try that again," she said angrily, over the labored groaning, "and see what happens."

Ned stepped fully into her view. "Everything all right?"

She jumped slightly, but then her gaze locked to Ned's face. "Wow. Ned?"

"Nancy?" Ned took a step toward her, unable to hide his grin, both of them now completely ignoring the groaning, temporarily incapacitated man who was almost kneeling at Nancy's feet.

Nancy grinned back. "Yeah! Didn't expect to see you here."

"You either," Ned said, just as the back door crashed open to reveal a tall, muscular security guard ready to throw the would-be attacker off the property.

Ned had met Nancy when she was investigating the theft of a very expensive diamond, a theft Belinda had been suspected of perpetrating. Only Belinda and two other dancers had been on stage when the diamond had been ripped from Katya Alexandrovna's costume. Belinda had been desperate to have her name cleared, and so Ned had devoted himself to the investigation. It hadn't been hard to do that, either.

From the second Nancy had introduced herself and her gaze had met Ned's, he'd had a crush on her. He'd felt guilty about it, and he'd done his best to hide it from Belinda—and from Nancy—but it had only grown over the time he had spent helping her. She was by far the most fascinating, fearless woman he had ever met.

But she had been dating someone else, and Ned was with Belinda. He wasn't that kind of guy, the kind who would cheat on his girlfriend. But a few times, Ned could have sworn that Nancy was interested in him, too. It was something in the way she looked at him, in the way they were able to bounce ideas off each other so easily. Ned had somehow felt homesick for a few days after seeing her for the last time. He had missed her and their easy rapport so much.

And now she was here. He could hardly believe it.

"You look great," he said, once they were alone again. The night was mild and balmy, and if it had been up to him, he would have just stayed outside with her. "Can I get you a drink?"

She grinned again. "Uh, not for another eleven months," she said.

"I'm bartending at the wedding reception inside. C'mon, I'll make you something legal."

She considered for a second, then smiled. "Sounds good."

The bartender who had relieved Ned was swamped with orders, so Ned helped fill them so the waitresses could deliver them. Once the rush was over, Ned put together a Sprite and cranberry juice for Nancy, topping it with a lime twist.

She smiled at him in thanks as he handed it to her, and she nodded after she took a sip. "So, bartending?"

He shrugged, doing a quick scan to make sure no one else was waiting before he leaned forward and gazed into her eyes. "Just to earn some extra money," he replied. "I work at the insurance company during the day, too."

Her eyes sparkled in the reflected light from the dance floor. "Very industrious of you."

"I try to stay busy. What are you up to?"

Nancy took a long sip of her drink. "A girl who had been out here a few months ago contacted me about the charming gentleman you saw me with tonight," she said dryly. "Just having him banned from here wasn't enough for her. I needed some evidence, so..."

"So you used yourself as bait to get it."

She met his eyes directly. "I know how to defend myself," she replied. "I was prepared. She wasn't. And I can't deny that it wasn't a little cathartic..."

"You've never been in that situation for real, have you?"

She shook her head. "Dad forbid me from dating until I was fifteen, and I didn't actually go out with anyone until I was sixteen. By then I'd had so many years of martial arts lessons, and I'd investigated so many cases, that... well, let's just say I wasn't about to be a victim if I could possibly help it."

"Any guy who would try anything like that on you must be an idiot."

She smiled. "Any guy who would try anything like that on _any_ woman is an idiot," she pointed out. "But anyway. You think the happy couple won't mind me crashing their party like this?"

He shook his head. "Not at all. They've been partying pretty hard tonight."

Nancy glanced over to where he gestured. "Oh, I know her," she commented. "She was two grades ahead of me. Good for her."

Ned chuckled. "You don't sound convinced. What, you and what's his name aren't planning something like this?"

Nancy chuckled, but without humor. "Let's see, I was dating... Brad, when we met? Yeah, we pretty much broke up during that case, in everything but name. And then for good pretty soon after. He never took my detective work seriously, never understood it."

"Another idiot, huh."

One side of her mouth turned up. "I seem to date a lot of idiots," she admitted. "I mean, you and Belinda, right? You support her in what she wants to do?"

"Yeah," he said. "I mean, I did. Before she broke up with me."

Nancy's eyes widened. "Oh. Man. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Ned shrugged. "Yeah, I didn't either," he said. "But yeah, to what you were saying. That's part of being in a relationship. Supporting each other. And anyone who has seen you in action, who has seen how incredible you are, and didn't want to support you? That guy is _definitely_ an idiot."

She blushed; she actually _blushed_ , right in front of him. Then she opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, another guest approached the bar. Ned wanted desperately to stay and hear whatever she was about to say, but he gestured for her to give him a minute and went over to take care of the drink order.

After he had poured some of the already-buzzed groomsmen a round of shots, he returned to see that Nancy's glass was empty. "Want another, or something different?"

"Mmm. That was good, but maybe something with pineapple."

He nodded, going over the ingredients for a few popular tropical drinks he already had memorized. "Anyway, I'm sorry for the interruption. What were you saying?"

The blush had faded from her cheeks, and she gestured out at the mirrorball-lit dance floor. "That I've never really seen my 'big day' going like this," she replied. "To answer your earlier question. I mean, it's nice..."

"But unimaginative," he agreed, keeping his voice down so he didn't offend any of the guests or hosts. "And you seem very imaginative to me."

He saw a sudden flicker of expression in her eyes, one of surprise and almost admiration. "Then I would hate to disappoint you," she replied, smiling her thanks as he handed her the next drink.

"And, speaking of unimaginative—I haven't been a bartender for too long, so that's just a virgin Mai Tai."

"It's very pretty." She took a small first sip, evaluating. "Mmmm."

Ned grinned as he drew himself a glass of water. "You know, over the summer apparently there are wedding receptions here pretty much every weekend. You can always stop by, keep me from going out of my mind..."

Her eyes sparkled as she took another sip. "And at least I could be more appropriately dressed," she commented, gesturing at her blue dress and sandals.

He shrugged. "You look gorgeous right now. I'm sure you'd look gorgeous in anything."

Her small smile became an almost shy grin again.

"I... would you..." Ned couldn't believe how nervous this was making him, and he cleared his throat. "Would you maybe want to have dinner sometime this week? No pressure or anything."

"Just a date," she said, and the color was up in her cheeks again.

Another wedding guest approached the bar, with two other people in tow, and Ned silently reeled off a string of frustrated curses that would have left his mother mortified. "Be right back," he said quickly. "Give you a chance to think about it."

A part of him was convinced, as he put together two scotch and waters and a Long Island iced tea, that Nancy would silently slip off her barstool and vanish, giving him his answer. He almost screwed up the last order, and forced himself to slow down, to calm down, despite the adrenaline that wanted to make his hands tremble. Maybe she thought everything he had been telling her was just a line, that he was just another idiot. He sincerely hoped not.

She had downed half of her drink when he returned. "Who was it, Groucho Marx? 'I don't want to belong to any club that would accept me as a member'?"

"You don't want to date any guy who _would_ date you?" Ned replied, guessing at her train of thought.

The corner of her mouth turned up. "Sounds like a pretty lonely way to live," she pointed out. "And what you were saying... I guess I just really, really want to believe that you aren't like the rest of them."

"And I _know_ you aren't," Ned pointed out, raising his water glass for another sip.

She smiled, then extended her hand toward him, offering her drink. "To being different," she toasted.

Ned clicked his glass against hers. "To being different," he agreed. "And damn, I wish it was New Year's. That would be a perfect way to start a new year."

"Not to mention the kiss at midnight," Nancy said, as though reading his own thoughts, and Ned grinned.

"Not to mention that."

"So, maybe the Pizza Spot? Tuesday night?"

Ned tapped his chin, scanning the bar for more approaching interruptions. He couldn't help but think of them that way now. "Not something like Chez Louis?"

"I'm talking to a college student working two summer jobs," she pointed out. "Chez Louis is a lot of pressure for a first date. Plus, it means you have to work harder." She propped her chin on her hand, gazing at him. "You can't just lean on the ambiance of the place and hope for the best. And it's always fun to see how a guy tries to navigate a romantic evening while somehow dealing with garlic breath."

"That's a _lot_ of faith you have in me," Ned pointed out before taking another sip of water.

She grinned. "Let's just say that you seem very imaginative to me."

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally published elsewhere. If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving feedback!


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